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Sustaining European Combat Power: MRO and Logistics Chokepoints in High-Intensity Warfare
How brittle is NATO's maintenance, repair and overhaul ecosystem after decades of post-Cold War downsizing, and why is sustainment throughput the primary limiter of combat tempo?
Sustaining European Combat Power: MRO and Logistics Chokepoints in High-Intensity Warfare: European defense effectiveness is not. Defence-finance analysis; 32…
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Original DFM publication · DFM Analysis report · 2025-12-27
European defense effectiveness is not only measured by platform counts but by sustainment infrastructure throughput. Decades of post-Cold War downsizing have rendered NATO’s maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) ecosystem dangerously brittle. As high-intensity attrition returns to the continent, the capacity to cycle spare parts has become the primary limiter of combat tempo.
This research identifies the structural chokepoints within the European logistics chain, from propulsion depots to electronic repair labs. While public focus remains on hardware procurement, professional military endurance is governed by recovery assets and depot bays.
This analysis answers: How brittle is NATO's maintenance, repair and overhaul ecosystem after decades of post-Cold War downsizing, and why is sustainment throughput the primary limiter of combat tempo? Where are the structural chokepoints, from propulsion depots to electronic repair labs and forward recovery, in the European logistics chain? Which single points of failure create logistics friction in high-intensity attrition warfare? What industrial and policy measures could bridge the sustainment gap?
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Sustaining European Combat Power: MRO and Logistics Chokepoints in High-Intensity Warfare
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